Author Archives : Roman Rozic

Integral is a melodic tech-death outfit from Bergamo, Italy. Having released their album ‘Resilience’ on the 5th of May, fans of Beyond Creation, The Faceless, and the Black Dahlia Murder will be pleased to know that there is indeed a lot of technically proficient string work, progressive interjections, and a daring dip into a fusion of unexpected genres. However, when it comes to technical death metal, there is only one question that matters… is this one of the few good albums of the genre, or just another inherently bad one? Let’s find out.

Cranely Gardens are a band from New Jersey, having previously released Locust Valley in 2015, they release another EP on the 11th of August titled House of Decay. This is a band that will greatly appeal to the followers of Unearth, Whitechapel, As I lay Dying, and Suffokate.

From Regina, Saskatchewan, our Canadian Death Metal vocabulary expands as Planet Eater launches ‘Blackness From The Stars’ on the 4th of August. I remember the days where an average listener’s response to labels and genres was, “It’s just plain fucking metal!” This was during the golden age of Roadrunner Records, roughly 1998 to 2008, where nearly every male-fronted band used mid-range vocals inspired by the likes of Phil Anselmo and Max Cavalera, yet despite getting labeled groove or nu-metal, there wasn’t a single band that could be permanently confined to a single genre box. This is very much how this album comes across, very diverse and genre-defying.

From Northern California, Apothesary released their album “Accept Loss Forever” on the 7th of July. While categorized as deathcore, the undeniable talent and instrumental finesse of their sound caters to hardcore and metalcore audiences alike.

From Mexico, Scrotoctomy’s Born To Eviscerate album brings us deep down into an abyss of sadistic and even perverted realm of brutality known as Slamming Brutal Death Metal, a pit known to have listeners hypnotized and enthralled in its depths, and just for one moment, abandoning everything they know about humanity.